The Unexpected
by AmandaRae0825
Summary: Bridget has a secret! / set after love is a funny thing / 4th story in series (Rated T for some language in ch3)
1. Chapter 1

The past few weeks at the lab have been very stressful. There were multiple cases that were hitting dead ends and everyone was on edge. Horatio and Bridget finally arrived home at 9pm and were exhausted; the two of them had been at the lab since 7am.

The two went upstairs together; they were so tired they didn't even speak. As they entered their bedroom the two began their nightly routine. Bridget took her makeup off, changed into her pajamas and went to the bathroom. As Bridget was in the bathroom Horatio changed into his pajamas, shut the blinds and closed the drapes. Once Bridget was done Horatio went in and used the bathroom himself.

Horatio came out of the bathroom to see his wife already asleep over the covers, he grinned. Bridget was not the greatest sleeper due to her reoccurring nightmares. Horatio took a blanket off of the old dark brown recliner chair kitty-cornered on the wall next to the bed. He made his way over to the light switch and turned the lights off in the room. He walked back over to the bed and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Bridget was startled awake, she looked over at her alarm clock and it was 3am. She sighed realizing the likelihood of her falling back to sleep was slim to none, and decided to quietly get out of bed and go downstairs to do some laundry. She grabbed the laundry basket from the end of the bed and walked downstairs.

Once at the end of the staircase she turned right into the living room. She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. She turned left and went into the laundry room, she took the laundry out of the basket and loaded it into the top loading washing machine. Once she was finished she made her way back into the living room and laid down on the couch. She turned the television on and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Horatio woke up to the screaming of his and subsequently Bridget's alarm at 7am. He smacked his hoping this would stop the noise but when it didn't he rolled over to find an empty bed. Horatio sighed, he figured Bridget woke up in the middle of the night again and went to get some household chores done. Horatio rolled over to Bridget's side of the bed and turned her alarm off, he then made his was downstairs to find her asleep on the couch.

"Bridget." Horatio said as he approached the couch.

He knelt down next to his snoring wife's face.

"Bridget." Horatio said once again in a whisper

Bridget stirred awake and was startled by Horatio.

"Jesus Christ Horatio!" Bridget said as she sat up and grabbed her chest

"Why do you do this?" Horatio asked with a smile

"I woke up and didn't want to disturb you so I decided to do some… shit." Bridget got up off of the couch leaving Horatio kneeling next to the couch

"Let me guess, you fell asleep before you switched the laundry?" Horatio yelled across the house as he stood up and followed her

"I have to stop doing this late night laundry, it's going to ruin our clothes!" Bridget laughed as she moved the wet clothes into the dryer.

"Sweetheart, you have seemed off the past few days what is going on" Horatio approached his wife rubbing her shoulders

"Horatio you have to stop worrying so much about me you're going to make yourself sick" Bridget started to make her way back upstairs while he followed

"Bridget I know you and I know you aren't telling me something" Horatio frowned

Bridget stopped in the doorway of their bedroom and took a deep breath. She turned around to find an agitated Horatio standing right behind her.

"You're right Horatio" Bridget taunted her husband as she turned back around and made her way into the bathroom

"Bridget!" Horatio was becoming increasingly agitated

"Horatio I am kidding, there is nothing wrong… The lab has been stressful that's all" Bridget embraced Horatio in the bathroom doorway and kissed him.

"I don't believe you but I can't make you talk…" Horatio replied looking down at his wife dissatisfied with her answer

"No you can not" Bridget replied playfully as she tapped his nose, he smiled.

"I'll get it out of you somehow!" Horatio told her as she shut the bathroom door on him


	2. Chapter 2- Shoot to kill

Horatio and Bridget walked into the lab, shared a kiss and parted ways. Horatio went off to his office while Bridget made her way into the locker room. In the locker room Bridget found Ryan at his locker.

"Hey Bridget" Ryan muttered

"Hi" Bridget replied with a sigh

"What's up? You seem down" Ryan asked slightly concerned

"I just have a feeling" Bridget said as she put her stuff in her locker

"What kind of feeling?" Ryan asked

"A bad one" Bridget hastily replied as she walked out of the locker room

Bridget ran down the hallways towards Horatio's office she knew something was wrong. She ran into his office calling his name and then was paralyzed.

"Bridget stay back" Horatio said

"What is going on!?" Bridget exclaimed

"Your husband here put my brother away for a crime he didn't commit and I am here to settle the score" The mystery mans gruff voice sneered

"Please put the gun down " Horatio asked, both of his hands were up

The mystery man shot a look towards Bridget. He looked familiar but she didn't know from where. He was of average height and build. He had dark brown eyes and light brown hair. His hair was short and clean kempt. He was wearing sneakers, kaki shorts and a t-shirt. He walked over to Bridget, shut the door and violently dragged her over to Horatio.

"Because of your rude interruption I now have a two for one deal" The man sneered

"We can talk about this" Horatio said slowly

"Talk?! You have done ENOUGH talking!" The man raised the gun as if he was going to shoot Horatio

"Please don't do this" Bridget begged, she was shaking.

"Why shouldn't I?" The man teased turning the gun towards Bridget

"Listen all we do is process the crime scene evidence, if your brothers DNA or anything was at the scene-" Bridget was cut off

"BULLSHIT" The man screamed, "You guys planted my brothers DNA and whatever else you found!" He was furious.

Bridget franticly looked around the room to find anything that could get them out of this situation. Horatio's office was fairly soundproof and everyone was too busy to look up at the glass walls surrounding the two of them. Bridget saw a pair of scissors on Horatio's desk; if she could grab them fast enough she could at least stun James with it.

"Who's first" The man smiled

"I think you're making a big mistake," Horatio reiterated

"You made the mistake when you put my brother away for murder!" The man yelled and then fired his gun.

Everything went in slow motion. Horatio looked down to see where he had been shot but to his surprise he wasn't. His eyes widened as he looked to his right to see Bridget on the floor holding her chest struggling to breath, she was the one shot. The man ran but only made it to the hallway before Horatio tackled him.

"RYAN! NATALIA! CALLEIGH! DELKO! FRANK! SOMEONE COME QUICK! I HAVE AN OFFICER DOWN!" Horatio screamed out pinning the man to the ground

Everyone heard the commotion and wondered what had happened. Calleigh and Natalia were the closest in proximity so they were the first two to arrive.

"NATALIA GO INTO MY OFFICE NOW! BRIDGET HAS BEEN SHOT!" Horatio yelled as he pulled out his phone to dial 911

"Calleigh get this bastard handcuffed and into custody" Horatio handed him over and then ran into his office while on the phone with emergency services

Bridget was lying on the floor gasping for air. Natalia was covering the gaping hole in her chest to try to prevent any more potential for a pneumothorax. Bridget had tears streaming down her face trying desperately not to close her eyes; she wasn't sure if she would be able to open them again if she did. Horatio knelt down at the top of Bridget's head and held the sides of her head. They looked straight into each other's eyes.

"Where is the damn ambulance!?" Natalia exclaimed

"H… h… hor." Bridget desperately needed to tell them something

"Shh, don't speak, you're going to make it worse" Horatio was trying not to panic but she was losing a lot of blood. The sirens of the ambulance were coming into earshot.

"I… I… I'm.. Preg…" Bridget started to close her eyes

"Is she saying pregnant?" Natalia looked to Horatio

"Bridget open your eyes!" Horatio exclaimed

The paramedics busted in and quickly took over for Horatio and Natalia. They worked quickly, Bridget was critical. The two men quickly took her vitals, started and IV and loaded her into the gurney. Out in the hall Ryan and Delko were talking concerned for their friend.

"This is the second time she has been shot in a year," Ryan said

"Do you think they are connected?" Eric questioned Ryan

"Not sure, I know he told Calleigh that H put his brother away for a murder he didn't commit but why would he shoot Bridget?" Ryan was perplexed

"Unless this guy knew that Bridget would come try to save H" Eric replied

"I think it's worth investigating." Ryan began to walk away and Eric followed

The paramedics ran out of the lab with Bridget and Horatio followed. Natalia wanted to go but she was thinking exactly what Ryan and Eric were and decided to go find them.


	3. Chapter 3- Figuring out why

"Eric, Ryan do you guys have a second?" Natalia asked as she walked into one of the forensic labs

"I take it y'all are thinking what I am thinking" Calleigh said as she walked in

"So we all think that Bridget getting shot again isn't a coincidence." Ryan replied to the other three

The four went up to Horatio's office to start processing the crime scene. They looked for anything and everything to prove that this guy wasn't out for Horatio but was out for Bridget instead.

"Well her gunshot was a through and through, I just found the bullet!" Calleigh exclaimed

"There is a ton of blood here" Ryan looked at the blood puddle perplexed

"How are we supposed to prove this guy was out for Bridget? We have the cameras to prove he came in and shot her and then tried to take off. He is already going to be charged for attempted murder." Eric asked

"If you guys are good here I can go talk to him." Natalia said

"That might not be a bad idea… let us know what he says" Calleigh replied

Natalia walked into the interrogation room trying to remain calm. She walked in to see a man of average height and build with dark brown eyes and clean-cut brown hair. He had an emotionless expression on his face and this ticked Natalia off.

"You do realize you just tried to kill a cop right?" Natalia asked

"Yeah.. and" The man answered

Natalia was becoming furious at this point, she sat down across from him and decided to open up his file. Her eyes widened as she read his name, John Caper.

"How didn't I recognize you…" Natalia muttered

"The same way you ASSHOLES WRONGLY PUT MY BROTHER AWAY FOR MURDER!" John yelled

"Bridget took care of your distressed daughter after your wife was stabbed to death!" Natalia yelled back

"My daughter was corrupted by you people!" James pounded his fist on the table

"She was four! She was left naked and afraid in her bedroom Bridget was the one who found her, your lucky she wasn't killed either!" Natalia reiterated

"I don't give a shit! My poor 6 year old doesn't have a mother and thinks her uncle is a god damn psychopath!" John slouched back in his chair

"So you thought it was a good idea to kill one of the CSIs involved in the case." Natalia said

"Oh no, not just any CSI I wanted Bridget but I needed to lure her in which is why I used Horatio for bait." John sneered

"John none of this makes sense" Natalia shot him a look of disgust

"Bridget was instrumental in getting my brother put away, I forgave him for killing my wife! But no, you assholes just HAD to lock him up." James was furious

"How could you forgive your- wait… were you part of your wife's murder!?" Natalia exclaimed

"What makes you say that darling?" John sneered and smiled sadistically

"Everything…" Natalia got up and walked out of the interrogation room

Natalia made her way back up to Horatio's office to tell the group what she learned. She was stunned with what she just had learned and knew they would be too. She walked in to his office to see the CSIs still hard at work.

"It's John Caper" Natalia said

"John who?" Ryan asked

"The widow doctor who's brother killed his wife?!" Calleigh exclaimed

"Yup. He claims we corrupted his daughter and violated his brothers rights." Natalia replied

"Sounds like he's part of his wife's murder" Delko said

"The case box is in the vault right?" Ryan asked

"Should be" Delko muttered back

"Maybe we should start there" Natalia said as she walked out


	4. Chapter 4- The Hospital

The ambulance ride to the hospital was brutal. Bridget could barley breath and there wasn't much the paramedics could do about it. Horatio held her hand the entire time trying to process the fact that she had been hiding a pregnancy from him. He knew the likelihood of the pregnancy being viable was slim to none with a wound like this. They arrived at the hospital to once again to be rushed around; Bridget was immediately brought up for emergency surgery while Horatio debriefed one of the nurses who would eventually go up and speak with the surgeon.

"She was shot… I am not sure if it was a through and through or not. She has lost a lot of… uhm, blood and uhm…" Horatio trailed off, he normally wasn't so spacey

"Its okay lieutenant she is in good hands" The nurse said, but as she started to walk away Horatio exclaimed

"She's pregnant! I don't know how far along she is… she told me after she was shot."

"Okay thank you" The nurse replied and walked away

Horatio sat down in the surgical waiting room fighting his tears. He looked at his phone to see what he had missed and saw that Natalia had left a voicemail.

"Hi Horatio, I hope Bridget is okay… I am not sure if the guy who shot her told you anything but it's actually John Caper."

Horatio paused the voicemail and lowered the phone from his ear in complete shock. The first case Bridget ever worked with the MDPD was the reason she was shot. He put the phone back to his ear and listened to the rest of the message.

"He is pissed off because he claims we were wrong to put his brother in jail and that she was instrumental in his arrest."

Horatio put down his phone in shock, this was a shoot to kill mission. He couldn't understand why, was John part of the murder? Was his brother asking him for a favor from jail? He didn't know and truthfully he didn't know if he wanted to know.

Horatio paced back and forth for hours waiting for Bridget to get out of surgery. The shooting happened at 9:30am and it was now 3:30pm. The surgeon approached him.

"She bullet went in between the space of the fourth and the fifth rib. The bullet went through her lung and chipped the fifth rib bone in her back. We fixed the holes in her lung and put back together her shattered rib. Bridget is incredibly lucky to be alive right now." The doctor was very serious

"Can I see her?" Horatio asked timidly

"Yes, but I must warn you she is in critical condition. She has a chest tube, which is confining her to the bed right now. Once she wakes up she is going to be in a hell of a lot of pain. She is stable and has remained so, so we have chosen not to intubate but at any time this decision could change." The doctor discussed all of this on the way to Bridget's room

"Okay." Horatio was quiet

Horatio stood outside of Bridget's hospital room afraid to go in; he was looking down and playing with his sunglasses. He had just been through this with her 8 months ago. He had no idea what he was going to tell her when she woke up. He took a deep sigh and walked into the room.

He slowly walked in to a passed out Bridget. She was laying flat on her back with her arms by either side. She was breathing slowly and deeply without struggle. Horatio pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. He leaned forward placing his elbows on the tops of his thighs. He tilted his head, looked at her and smiled. He tilted his head down and put his face in his hands.

Horatio called Natalia and asked her if she could stop by their house to grab Horatio a few things. He sat and stared at Bridget for hours, even when Natalia brought the stuff he asked for. It was now 9pm and Horatio was exhausted. He leaned back in the chair stretching his legs out. He crossed his arms and tilted his head forward. Within moments he was asleep.


End file.
